AusGOAL

Awareness Level

Who should read this?

This guide is relevant to those who deal with information and data that is being - or has been - made available for use and re-use by people other than the original creators of the information. This might include researchers, repository managers, and users who access and use information and data created by others.

AusGOAL's Purpose

AusGOAL, or the Australian Governments Open Access and Licensing Framework, formerly GILF (the Government Information Licensing Framework) is a framework by which information providers can make appropriate licensing decisions that enable the re-use of information by the wider community. It has been endorsed as the preferred policy and licensing suite for government information across Australia.  Though AusGOAL was designed initially for public sector information, the licensing review process can be used by anyone who wishes to find the most appropriate licence in the suite to attach to information.  AusGOAL is now officially being extended into the research and innovation sector.

By going through a Licensing Review, the owners of information can quickly and easily determine the appropriate licence under which they wish to release information.  This review is a process designed to limit risk when licensing information for re-use.  It provides a method for licensing material that enables information providers to apply an appropriate licence, whilst respecting others' copyrights, and privacy or commercial issues where they exist within information being published.

Behind AusGOAL is a commitment to open access, and the framework is designed to guide the person selecting a licence to the least restrictive applicable to their data.  AusGOAL incorporates Creative Commons licences and provides a framework to guide one to the most appropriate licence.

Licensing Review

The Licensing Review involves the following steps:

1. The identification of the material to be licensed.
2. The identification and review of any restrictions applicable to the original content. (Original content is that which is unique and original to the material. It does not contain information from another source or sources.)
3. The identification of other input sources used in the creation of the material.
4. The identification and review of publishing restrictions relating to the additional inputs.
5. The selection of an appropriate Licence based on the outcome of the Review.

AusGOAL and the Research Community

With the increasing willingness of researchers and institutions to share their information and data (whether it is a requirement or not), it is imperative that subsequent users of this information are also clear as to what they are able to do to with, and in which ways they are able to re-use this information.  It is also important that researchers apply appropriate disclaimer clauses to limit potential legal liability.

Using the AusGOAL framework to determine the most appropriate licence to attach to information is one way that the providers of information can ensure this clarity.

The AusGOAL Suite of Licences

The AusGOAL suite of licences currently contains the six Creative Commons (CC) licences and the AusGOAL Restrictive Licence template (RL).  An open source software licence will be added to the suite shortly.

The following licences are included in AusGOAL and are listed in order of least restrictive to most restrictive:

• Attribution (BY)
• Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
• Attribution Share Alike (BY-SA)
• Attribution No Derivatives (BY-ND)
• Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)
• Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives (BY-NC-ND)
• Restrictive Licence template (RL)

Use of the Creative Commons licences fosters availability and accessibility, and encourages the re-use of data and information.

The Restrictive Licence template has been developed specifically for material that contains personal or other confidential information. It may also be used for other reasons, including material that is to be licensed under some form of limiting or restrictive condition (such as a time limit on use, or payment arrangements other than an initial once-only fee).

The Creative Commons licences are provided in the plain English (and 39 other languages) Licence Deed and Legal Code, as well as machine readable format. When applied to a document, web page or other form of publication, AusGOAL licences are represented by a licence badge that contains a link to the Licence Deed.

Can I use AusGOAL for data?

Nothing prevents the AusGOAL suite of licences being applied to data.  The law with respect to the subsistence of copyright in factual information (for example, data) is currently being tested before the Courts.  The outcomes of this litigation may cause further refinement of the application of Creative Commons licences.  It is also important to note that not all data would fall into the spectrum being considered in the present litigation.  Until the litigation is resolved, the Creative Commons licences remain an effective tool for the licensing of data. 

In any event, Creative Commons licences will continue to adequately serve the purpose of identifying attribution requirements of the creator or publisher, and provide other benefits such as a positive and prominent notice of terms and conditions of use of the information to which they are applied.  The AusGOAL Framework will be updated and or modified to address the outcomes of the current legal proceedings when they come to an end.

How do I use AusGoal?

The AusGOAL website (www.ausgoal.gov.au) guides you through a simple set of simple questions(the Licensing Review) that will enable you to determine the most appropriate licence to attach to your information.

Further Information

The AusGOAL website
The Creative Commons website 
ANDS Guide to Creative Commons and Data
ANDS Guide to Copyright and Data
How to Licence Research Data.  UK Digital Curation Centre.